Saturday, September 05, 2015

Do you have what it takes?

Last month we made an appeal for volunteers to form our elite platoon of bloggers. We've had a few encouraging responses and some disappointing ones. Some people are intractably wedded to the traditional eurosceptic mantras
and while they say they understand our mission, in practice they do
not. Thus we will have to kiss a few frogs before we get our operation
fully mobilised. Consequently we are making a second appeal.

As to the task at hand we have found that spending big bucks on followers and large media interactions has only a limited effect
and no real measurable results. Certainly we can't see what kind of
impact it is making with real people. That is where our team comes in.

What we need are blogs, each with their own distinct identity, free to
write on matters as they see them, writing to their own respective
audiences. We do not expect or ask you to be echo chambers for eureferendum.com. Though what we do need is bloggers who subscribe to a set of core arguments and guidelines.

We have made the case that the Brexit plan we have throws up certain
political realities that shape the arguments we make for withdrawal. For
instance, Brexit will not
necessarily mean substantially smaller budget contributions, may not in
the short to medium term bring about an end to free movement and
pragmatism demands we make regulatory compromises in order to remain
part of the single market. We assume that you will have read Flexcit or are at the very least aware of the thesis. That should inform the basis of our arguments.

The message is important. We are entering a crowded marketplace. All the
bases are covered for the usual lurid eurosceptic tropes. There is no
value in replicating it in that it does not reach new ears. We have to
be counter to the usual eurosceptic output. What we are after is new
angles and innovative content. We let the cannon fodder take the Yes
campaign head on. It's not well directed effort. Most of the keyboard
warriors mistake volume of activity for productivity, employing badly
made infographics. Most of the time they are wrong and send out the
wrong message.

As to the practicalities of this, I will act as a controller and can
offer editorial advice. Ultimately, attention to detail and
presentation is key to credibility. Posts should preferably carry an
illustration or a picture each time. It helps in Google rankings.

It must be said that this is no small undertaking. We are after fully
dedicated people and preferably people we don't have to babysit. If you
make the grade then we will expect that you in turn will recruit your
own cell of bloggers. If that sounds elitist, it's because it is. We
should be unashamedly elitist. We don't don't want libertarian ranters
or europhobes. The "love Europe, hate the EU" nonsense is no use to us.
We don't hate the EU, we just want out of it.

We also need to start acting now. A blog that is well established with a
large web footprint will appear in Google results immediately. Those
starting up at the last minute will struggle to get any meaningful hits.
It is more a matter of establishing a blog for the final three months
of the campaign.

Don't be put off by the low numbers of hits. Populist material will
generate hits, but we'd rather reach the right ears than be talking to
the same old crowd. If we co-ordinate our efforts then we can help you
build your own online constituency.

Very few people can spare the time or energy to produce original content
every day or even once a week. Twitter means you don't have to if we
have an active team who will retweet each other. In that regard we have
to rise above the narcissism of small differences. We don't have to
agree with each other so long as we are working to broadly the same
principles.

That said, a blog must be seen to be active so there is certainly no
harm in reproducing each others material. You should be looking to build
a twitter audience of at least a thousand followers. This takes time
and a burst of concentrated effort. It doesn't happen quickly and it's
not very rewarding work. It has taken six months of concerted effort to
build two account each with a thousand followers.

However, if we are all retweeting each other, then the original tweet
gets weighted by the Twitter engine and is more likely to appear in the
top news section on the hash-tag. What matters is the multiplier effect.
In that regard, your accounts will grow faster in that we will be
promoting them.

Numbers are only a guide though. They are not a measure of productivity.
The number of hits you get or the number of followers you have is not
paramount. It's a useful target to aim for, but ultimately this
operation is about targeted campaigning. Identifying those in your
cohort who can be convinced or recruited matters more. You yourself may
not have reach but if you can recruit for us then that is even better.
It may be that you know some eurosceptics who can be reasoned with in
order to moderate their output, which is valuable in itself.

The core mission is to win the intellectual battle. We must influence
the influential and we must build a credible case with a viable
alternative. The final battle will not be us versus the Yes/Remain
campaign. It will be an estimation as to whether the alternative we
present is better than Cameron's reforms.

I will be sending out periodic emails and guidelines and instructions in
how to argue online. Please do not expect immediate replies to emails,
though you can get my attention on Twitter - @petenorth303, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pete303.

If you are with us, please let me know what your blog is and your
Twitter account - and your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome.
Let us know if we can help. Be sure also to follow this blog because
much of what I say to you will already appear there.

We are going to see a lot of wasted money and misdirected effort from
the main campaigns and certainly we do not see Ukip as either an asset or ally in this. In fact the more clear blue water there is, the better. We have to make the progressive case for Brexit and we do not want to be tainted by association. A blunter statement of rules can be found here.
The comments as much as anything gives you a clear indication of what
we don't want. If you think you make the grade, and you're on board with
our message, we would love to hear from you.